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The Lambton Kent District School Board director of education is frustrated he can't get a straight answer from the teachers' union whether or not a one-day strike will occur Tuesday.

Jim Costello said the local Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario “has given us no first-hand confirmation, which I think is very disappointing . . . and irresponsible.”

He has heard an e-mail has been sent to elementary teachers informing them of the strike action on Tuesday.

There is an understanding that ETFO would provide school boards 72-hours notice if a rotating one-day strike would impact them.

If the strike happens Tuesday, Costello said clearly the union is counting the weekend as part of that 72 hours notice.

“They say they're concerned about student safety and well-being then I think they owe it to us to give us some notice,” he said.

Costello said he made it clear to ETFO officials on Friday that the board needed to know that afternoon if strike action was planned on Tuesday in order to give parents enough notice.

The education director said one of his major concerns is the fact 'B' day kindergarten students attending class on Friday are scheduled to be back at school on Tuesday.

Costello said the LKDSB sent a letter home Friday to inform parents that “to the best of our knowledge, based on media reports” the board is assuming a one-day strike will occur at elementary schools across the district on Tuesday.

The Chatham Daily News received an e-mail Friday from Ron Rivait, president of the Lambton-Kent unit of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, who stated the date of a strike action can't be confirmed.

The Daily News contacted Rivait later on Friday to see any new information was available. He responded that he has a responsibility to give ETFO members information before release anything to the LKDSB or the press. Rivait added he assured Costello the union would provide 72 hours notice of any job action, which remains the case.

Unions representing both public elementary and secondary school teachers have directed members to take job action over their opposition to Bill 115, which has legislated such measures as wage freezes and cutting sick days, bypassing the collective bargaining process.

Chatham resident Tom Slager, who has four children in elementary school, said Friday afternoon he had not received any notice of a one-day strike.

If the job action does occur, he said, “the teachers are not going to gain any public sympathy whatsoever, at least that's my opinion.”

Slager believes this issue is being mainly driven from the union and rank and file teachers don't have much choice in the matter.

Although many parents may be sympathetic to what the government did to teachers by circumventing the collective bargaining process, he said it's families who will be left scrambling to find daycare if a walkout happens.

“The reality of the situation the parents face doesn't really match with what see as the goal the teachers are trying to accomplish,” Slager said.

The issue also causing some confusion with some families who have students attending elementary schools with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.

The Catholic board sent a letter home Friday, making it clear its schools are not impacted by any impending job action.

“I want our parents and guardians to know that this job action is limited to our public board counterparts and in no way impacts the St. Clair Catholic District School Board,” said education director Paul Wubben in a media release.

“Catholic school teachers will be in their classrooms, Catholic schools will be open and transportation will run as normal,” Wubben said.